BEIJING - Reflecting on his Olympic journey, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach says the key mission of the Olympic movement is to unite people with solidarity in a peaceful competition.

Bach will step down as IOC president in June after having served 12 years in the role.

An Olympic fencing champion at Montreal 1976, Bach said that various political boycotts against the Olympics in the 1980s prompted him to engage himself in sports management.

"It is very special for me that none of the Olympic Games I have been presiding (over) had any boycott," Bach told Xinhua, adding that despite many geopolitical tensions before Paris 2024, the IOC was able to gather athletes from 206 countries and regions and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

Elected IOC president in 2013, Bach acknowledged that he had regrets in sometimes being too impatient to drive changes forward, adding that greater explanation and clarity could have been given.

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"In order to be really united, you have to understand the needs and circumstances of others, and you have to be ready to help others and accept help," Bach noted. "We have to organize the Games in a way contributing to a better society in every respect. We are not an island in the society, so we have to be in dialogue with society."

He added, "We are already about to increase the financial stability and strengthen it by having new partners and extending partnerships, which are in a robust situation where we need to make changes more on technical side with regard to sponsor recognition."

Seven candidates are running to succeed Bach as IOC president - Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., Sebastian Coe, Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Kirsty Coventry, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient, and Morinari Watanabe.

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For his successor, Bach stressed the importance of keeping the Olympic movement united and relevant to the world. "To maintain the universality of the Olympic Games, you have to stay politically neutral. Sometimes it is not easy, but you have to withstand this pressure."